engineergirl's Profile

Wow. I always have these at home, and never would have thought they could puff up like that. I'll have to try it myself!

I'm going to Italy, Greece, and Turkey this summer, and would love recommendations for what to pick while I'm there.

I was so enchanted with this idea that I picked up the ingredients on my way home last night. They turned out so well! It was tempting to add things to the potato mixture, but I'm glad I kept it pure. The cakes are enormous (I could only eat half of one) and by my calculations only 230 calories each. I did not make the creme fraiche sauce but served them with fennel apple salad and some steamed asparagus with miso butter. My girlfriend actually didn't like them initially-- she's been a pescetarian for most of her life and was weirded out by how "meaty" they are. For some reason the salmon tastes a lot more like bacon than like lox in this context. I loved them though.

I have a car and a big fridge but I do European-style shopping. I'm lucky, though, in the fact that I have a historic market selling high-quality meats, seafood, dairy, and produce just one block away. On Saturday and Sunday there's a farmer's line right outside the market. There's also a nice organic grocery and an olive oil/vinegar shop two blocks away from my house. And two big grocery stores and a couple of good bakeries that I can get to on easily my walk home from work. I always carry a few reusable bags with me in case I think of something that I need to pick up-- although that's gotten me in trouble when I accidentally bought more than I could comfortably carry!

We always give our master bedroom to guests. The second bedroom is really tiny, so there is no place they could put their suitcases. The living room couches are ok for the casual overnight guest, but again there's nowhere to set up shop with a suitcase or two. The living room is also inconvenient because you have to climb a flight of steep stairs to get to the full bath. I'd rather let people be close to the shower and have room to spread out their stuff. Especially since non-city dwellers might not be accustomed to a teeny tiny bedroom.

Within walking distance I have a Harris Teeter, a Safeway, a small organic grocery store, and a historic market with an additional weekend farmer's market.

I do most of my shopping at Harris Teeter, which is the best supermarket chain in the area, but I supplement it with nice things from the farmer's market, organic store, and other small shops nearby. About once a month I'll take a trip out to an Asian grocery store in the suburbs and stock up on cheap produce. I avoid Trader Joe's!

Someone else mentioned this, but it's worth mentioning again: freeze your vegetable scraps and use them to make stock! Just make sure they're well cleaned-- I've had a few muddy batches of stock. This is also a good use for wilted celery.

For fruits that are over the hill, I use them to make jams, upside down cakes, and sorbets. Overripe fruits have a ton of flavor and sweetness, which makes them ideal for baking and frozen treats.

I guess the thing I end up tossing the most is cilantro. I'll use half a batch and then the rest gets slimy before I have a chance to get to it. And although I'll sometimes save the stems to simmer in a sauce or soup, they have limited uses so they often get tossed too.

I'm curious, does this method work for other beans as well?

I do this sometimes too. I'm curious to know how other people package something like this-- I either end up with a million containers that don't fit in my lunchbag or a lot of plastic baggies (which I try to avoid in general).

Also, I would probably cut down on the quantity of cheese and/or almonds from what's pictured because that's a huge amount of food!

Be aware that the rice wrapper of a spring roll gets hard and tough if it sits in the fridge overnight. It's certainly edible, but it's a lot better when it's freshly made.